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Showing posts from December, 2011
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Buddy’s Watchin’ You

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          It’s an oldie but goodie. Remember when the Eagles had a likeable coach? Could you imagine this year’s roster doing a Christmas video? Me either. Enjoy “Buddy’s Watchin’ You” (it gets cut off a little at the end, but this was the only version I could find on YouTube), and the Ink will be back after the holidays or sooner if the Eagles are still breathing next week. I’ll probably pop up on Facebook / Twitter even if they’re finally eliminated.           Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

100+ Point Week in Picks

          I finally pulled out a winning week with a 4-3 record for +103.24 points. I thought it should have been better, but I made a bad call on the Temple Bowl game and Mike Tomlin never gave the Steelers a shot because he stuck with a hobbled Ben Roethlisberger. Anyway, here’s the rundown:           Saturday Parlay: Texas -7 (hoops) and Wyoming +7 over Temple, -20 points           NFL Pick: Chargers +2.5 over the Ravens, +23.81 points           NFL Pick: Eagles -3 (+105) over the Jets, +26.25 points           NFL Pick: Cardinals -6.5 over the Browns, -25 points           NFL Pick: Saints -7 (even) over the Vikings,+100 points           NFL Pick: Patriots -7 over the Broncos, +18.18 points           NFL Pick: Steelers +130 (money line) over 49ers, -20 points           I don’t plan to do a rundown next week – win or lose. I’ll still be posting picks on Facebook / Twitter , and will own up to everything in two weeks.

Phillies Bring Back Rollins to Likely Cap Off-season

          This time last year Philadelphia was practically throwing a parade for the 2011 Phillies. For the most part, we’ll have to hope that the same lineup we were all so excited about gets it done this year.           Jimmy Rollins is back, and that’s ok. I’m not going to rehash my doubts about the shortstop. I just would have liked to see some new blood in the lineup. Despite his comments in the press conference announcing the signing, where he suggested he could have been in Milwaukee and in my mind seemed to hint that he wasn’t convinced that this might not be his last contract, it’s clear Rollins was not all that sought after. I’m curious about why the Phillies weren’t more aggressive in trying to replace him, but bringing him back certainly isn’t something to get outraged about.           Jim Thome is a nice addition to the roster with Ryan Howard’s status up in the air due to injury, and the relief pitching is obviously stronger with Jonathan Papelbon now in the bullp

Two Ugly Scandals Hit Well-known Philly Figures

          Two stories have broken in the last 24 hours or so that are nothing short of scandals surrounding major figures in the Philadelphia sports world.           Bill Conlin is reportedly  the subject of a pending Inquirer article detailing child molestation allegations, according to deadspin.com. The word “reportedly” may be a stretch. It seems incredibly odd that this story is coming out a) via a blog post and b) a blog post that has words literally crossed out when I read it this afternoon. I essentially do not report news on this blog. I react to it. But this is just strange. Obviously, there are numerous unanswered questions here. At the moment the biggest might be: How could a blog get wind of this story? Newspapers aren’t in the business of giving blogs the crux of pending stories.           This is on the heels of a former St. Joseph’s basketball player, Todd O’Brien, stating that the university is not releasing him to play for a university that he has already tr

Still Breathing: Eagles Beat Jets

          Too little, too late?           At least there’s now a question mark at the end of those words in regards to the Eagles making the playoffs after they destroyed the Jets, 45-19.           There is no way to take anything away from the Eagles yesterday. They blew out a team with playoff aspirations. They did what Andy Reid envisions his teams doing – they got out in front and just kept the game plan going. No adjustments needed.           For the record, nothing about my opinion on this team has changed except that I now have zero hope that there will be coaching changes next year. The most telling comment after the game came from Nnamdi Asomugha. Talking about Juan Castillo, he said , “Well he’s grown a lot throughout the year, and that’s clear even if you watched and didn’t know what was going on, you could see that. . . . With each game he’s gotten a little bit better and kind of understands what works in the NFL and what doesn’t, because he had never done it be

Free Fantasy Football Week 15

          It’s bad enough Al DeMarco’s Draftstreet.com fantasy league doesn’t have Thursday night players available to pick, but now they don’t even let you draft Saturday night players. I understand they want the league to start on Sunday at kickoff, but I just think there has to be a way to include the other players. Anyway, maybe the smaller player pool will help me because I’ve been getting drubbed lately. Of course, the beauty of this league is that it’s free to enter, so if you finish in the money once you’re in the black.           With the holidays coming up, this might be my last fantasy football post unless they bring it back for the playoffs. Here’s my roster for Week 15:           QB Michael Vick (PHI-QB) $16,163           QB Andy Dalton (CIN-QB) $12,551           RB Chris Johnson (TEN-RB) $15,410           RB Cedric Benson (CIN-RB) $12,085           WR Larry Fitzgerald (ARI-WR) $12,320           WR Marques Colston (NO-WR) $12,212           TE

Picks 1-2 for the Week

          I kept all the picks equal this week, but couldn’t pull out a winning week. Here’s the rundown:           Patriots -8 over the Redskins, -50 points           49ers -3.5 over the Cardinals, -50 points           Giants +4.5 over the Cowboys, +45.45 points

HBO’s 24/7 Flyers / Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic Premiers Tonight

          Tonight is the premier of HBO’s 24/7 Flyers / Rangers: Road to the NHL Winter Classic. The series offers a behind-the-scenes look at the two teams as they approach their outdoor meeting at Citizens Bank Park on January 2 nd . Here’s a preview:

Early Thoughts on Sixers and the Paul Non-trade

          A few thoughts on the Sixers and the NBA: ·        I’m not as convinced as the Sixers seem to be that it’s a good thing that they are returning with the same core group from last year. They are completely over blowing the idea that it gives them an advantage early on. By the time the playoff push comes around it won’t matter, and they won’t have enough to contend. That said, I like that Thaddeus Young was re-signed for a few years and that they only committed to one year with Spencer Hawes. Let’s see more of him without getting locked in to a potentially bad contract. ·        According to Kate Fagan , the Sixers are looking to move Marreese Speights. He’s in the last year of his contract per ESPN . Even though it’s a relatively small number, I’d rather see them take the cap relief next year unless they are going to get a real contributor this season which is hard to imagine for Speights. ·        The Sixers have through Friday to use the amnesty clause, according

Eagles Lose by Winning

          Let the detailing of miracle playoff scenarios begin. The Eagles won a game.           Sadly, the win likely does little to salvage this season, and in my opinion merely hurts the team next season by enhancing the chances that Andy Reid returns.           It’s December 12 th , the Eagles have won 5 games this season, and people in Philadelphia can talk about the playoffs. Congratulations to the NFL. This is exactly what they want – parity. Every city gets to believe in their team to the bitter end.           The Eagles beat a hot but still mediocre Miami team on Sunday, 26-10. Mike Vick and Jeremy Maclin returned from injury, but that didn’t seem to do much for the offense. Maclin caught exactly one more pass than he did while he was out. Vick threw for a pedestrian 15 of 30 for 208 yards.           The Eagles took advantage of a short field three consecutive times – a long missed field goal and two turnovers – to score 17 points in the second quarter. They sco

Free Fantasy Football Week 14

          After a couple Top 50 finishes (including Thanksgiving week when I didn’t post my team here) in Al DeMarco’s Draftstreet.com fantasy league, I took a huge step backward last week finishing near the bottom. Here’s my effort for this week:           QB Matt Moore (MIA-QB) $11,396           QB Alex Smith (SF-QB) $11,557           RB Roy Helu (WAS-RB) $14,143           RB DeMarco Murray (DAL-RB) $11,790           WR Wes Welker (NE-WR) $14,935           WR Jordy Nelson (GB-WR) $11,758           TE Todd Heap (ARI-TE) $4,459           FLEX Jabar Gaffney (WAS-WR) $7,796           FLEX Golden Tate (SEA-WR) $4,880           DST Ravens (BAL-DST) $6,891           Salary cap = $100,000

Sixers Reaching Out to Fans and Mascot Vote Dominates Feedback

          On Tuesday, new Sixers’ CEO Adam Aron tweeted that the response to the vote for the new mascot far outweighed the feedback the organization received about the team. He reported, “ Mascot FYI: 16,000 votes cast in one day. Huge response vs. only 6,500 fan ideas on all topics at newsixersowner.com in full month.”           I realize this is due to marketing and the fact that casting a vote for a mascot doesn’t take a lot of brain power, but that’s really a sad statement about the apathy for basketball in this town. Then again, based on the response he got this morning to another tweet, maybe the fans should stick to mascots.           Aron took to Twitter again to ask, “Serious question to my Twitter GM’s: how u making your proposed @ Sixers big player moves with little cap room? How u threading that needle?” Just a sampling of the responses he received follows with the names deleted to protect the stupid.           “ Trade the bad contracts away.” Oh! Nobody ever

Pick of the Week Falls Short

          A 2-3 week doesn’t sound too bad, but when the big pick falls short it’s just a terrible week. I dropped -92.52 points for the week. Here’s the run down: Thursday night parlay: WVU -2.5 over South Florida, Seahawks +140 (money line) over Eagles, +18.43 points College Picks Houston -13.5 over Southern Mississippi, -15 points Virginia Tech -7 over Clemson, -15 points NFL Picks Packers -6.5 over the Giants, -100 points Saints -9 over the Lions, +19.05 points

BCS Rematch for Title Doesn’t Work

          It must be the end of the college football season. Everyone who cares about the sport is griping about the championship game. This year it’s a rematch between Alabama and LSU, which is a joke.           I don’t care a little bit about the argument that they are the best two teams. They already played (a ridiculously boring game) and the Tigers won. In the current system, which I don’t pretend to be an expert in understanding, there is no room for a rematch – even for a game that ended in overtime.           I’ll admit that if the first game hadn’t been by far the most boring college game I saw all season I might not bother to make this argument. I would still agree with it, I just wouldn’t make it. Anyone kidding themselves that the 9-6 snooze was a great defensive battle should just quiet down. It was a game where the offenses of both teams were completely overwhelmed by the defenses. That’s not a great game. It wasn’t the defenses making great plays. It was more lik

Loser Mentality Being Used to Support Reid

          Driving around this weekend I literally had to turn sports talk radio off because I just couldn’t take the stupidity coming from people who are still supporting Andy Reid.           I can’t believe these people still exist, let alone the completely asinine arguments they use to support this coach. I hate when guys like Tony Bruno and Mike Missanelli do their mocking voice as they repeat what they deem stupid comments from their callers, but I’d absolutely be doing it with these arguments.           Andy Reid is the best coach in franchise history. We could do a lot worse than Andy Reid.           Really? That’s what you idiots got?           Last time I checked Eagles franchise history has absolutely SUCKED. The Eagles have never won a damn Super Bowl. Not one. Who gives a damn that Andy Reid is the best coach in Eagles history? It means absolutely nothing. It’s a completely nonsense statement.           The second statement is worse. “We might do worse” is s

Free Fantasy Football Week 13

          Al DeMarco’s Draftstreet.com fantasy league is back to being free. Here are my suggestions for the week:           QB Drew Brees (NO-QB) $18,481           QB Tom Brady (NE-QB) $21,346           RB Darren Sproles (NO-RB) $10,936           RB James Starks (GB-RB) $8,499           WR Wes Welker (NE-WR) $16,011           WR Marques Colston (NO-WR) $10,692           TE Jake Ballard (NYG-TE) $5,589           FLEX Emmanuel Sanders (PIT-WR) $3,612           FLEX Randall Cobb (GB-WR) $2,457           DST Lions (DET-DST) $2,266           Salary Cap = $100,000

Nightmare in Seattle; Eagles Embarrassing Season Continues

          The Eagles nightmare season continued with a drubbing by the Seattle Seahawks, 31-14, a team that was also 4-7 entering last night’s game.           I’m done getting into the specifics of games because it’s completely irrelevant at this point. DeSean Jackson looked like he quit last night, and listening to Andy Reid sound like a jackass defending him this afternoon was sickening. He actually blamed the NFL Network for making it look like the receiver quit as if it was an illusion. Then I heard a clip of Jackson getting testy with reporters saying he wouldn’t answer questions about not preparing before the game.           It’s bad enough this team sucks, but for these morons to get arrogant at this point is as absurd as their play. Jackson looks like he might be done. He’s flat out scared.           Vince Young looks like he’s 45 years old. He’s pathetic, and he sounded even more stupid than Reid after the game. Reid added to his arrogance by suggesting Young’s firs

Bounce Back Week Stops Losing Streak in Picks

          A sweep in college football and winning two out of three 100-point picks in the NFL made for a very nice Thanksgiving weekend. Overall, I went 5-1 for +131.83 points, stopping the bleeding of a 3-week losing streak.           Here’s the run down: College Football Pick: Alabama -21 over Auburn for 15 points to win +13.64 College Football Pick: South Carolina -3.5 over Clemson for 15 points to win +13.64 College Football Pick: Stanford -7 over ND for 15 points to win +13.64 NFL Pick: Patriots -3.5 over Eagles for 100 points to win +100 (no “juice”) NFL Pick: Steelers -11 over Chiefs for -100 points NFL Pick: Saints -7 over Giants for 100 points to win +90.91